A collated group portrait from 1928 of the staff of Andrew McRobb, a then prominent plumbing and electrician business in Aberdeen. McRobb himself is pictured in the middle at the top.

The print features a inscription reading "by the employees, as a mark of esteem on the occasion of his acquiring Central Premises 27, 28, 29 Adelphi."

The Aberdeen Post Office directory from 1928-29 indicates that McRobb also had a branch at 103 Market Street and his home address was 24 Murray Terrace. In the directory he is described as a plumber, gasfitter, electrical and sanitation engineer.

The print includes a small photograph of the new premises in the Adelphi. In 2018 the shown shopfront is occupied by Asylum, a retailer of comics, graphic novels and roleplaying games.

McRobb took an active part in Aberdeen civic life and his profession. In May 1935 he was elected as the president of the Scottish Federation of Plumbers' and Domestic Engineers Association (Press & Journal, 11/05/1935, p. 8). He was also later a councillor for the Ferryhill Ward, a Town Council baillie, and elder and Sunday school superintendent at Trinity Church (Evening Express, 13/03/1952, p. 12).

The portraits in this print were taken and compiled by prominent Aberdeen photographer Fred W. Hardie. At the time he had premises at 416 Union Street and 8 Justice Mill Lane.

This print was kindly donated to Aberdeen Local Studies by David Parkinson. His grandfather, David Charles Kelly Parkinson, can be seen by counting four portraits to the right from the bottom right and then three up. His portrait is just down and left from a symbol showing two tools of the trade.

Location

Adelphi

Keyword

Businesses

Photographer

Fred W. Hardie